Rota
by SlytherinLove30
Summary: Tony takes the Rota job and takes his partner with him. Alls well until a man comes for revenge for his best friends death. Now it's up to Gibbs to save his former agents.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note- Usually I don't write more than one story at a time, but I had to get this idea down before I lost it. Forgive me! Tommy and McGregor should be updated soon. **

Anthony DiNozzo walked into Director Sheppard's office late one night after finishing his latest case report. He took a deep breath and approached her desk. "Director."

"Ah Agent DiNozzo, I've been expecting you." Jenny said, putting her glasses and the file she was reading down on her desk.

"Then you must know that I've made my decision." He said as he shifted around on his feet. He put a lot of thought into his decision and it definitely wasn't easy one, but it was a one he had to make. It was time to move forward in his career.

"And?" she said leadingly.

"I'm going to take the job." He said straight forwardly. Tony was usually one for foreplay but he had decided that it was time to cut to the chase for once.

Jenny was partially stunned. Even though Tony was definitely the most capable agent for the job but she didn't think he would leave behind all of his friends. If there was one thing she knew for sure, it's that the members of Gibbs' team were close, and nobody broke them up unless they had a death wish. She was also no afraid that she now had a target on her back. "Are you sure?" she asked just in case.

"I'm sure." He responded before he could talk himself out of it.

" Okay so the next order of business is assembling your team." Jenny said pulling out a stack of personal files. "Now these are all capable agents but we do have to put at least one that has a background in computers on the team so you can keep in contact with MTAC."

"Guess I have to learn how to deal with another geek." Tony muttered almost ruefully as he flipped through the files.

"Not necessarily." Jenny said, catching Tony's remark. She had wanted to bring that up.

Tony's head shot up. "What do you mean?"

"Agent McGee is one of the best agents here and from what I hear from before my time as Director, you played a very big part of that. Plus he has a very high degree in computer forensics. I have no problem with you taking him with you as your Senior Field Agent." She told him. She had been planning on promoting McGee too, but only if Tony accepted.

"Really?" Tony questioned. Leaving would definitely be easier if he took someone with him.

"Tony, you and Tim did a good job while Gibbs was gone." Jenny said talking more as a friend then a boss. " Officer David and Agent Lee are good at their jobs but you two managed not only to keep up Gibbs' close rate without him but you did it without killing each other, like many of the people around here thought you would."

"Ya, I know. Abby told me about the pool." Tony laughed bitterly. There were very few people that believed he would make a good leader and he was a little hurt by that. When Abby had told him about the pool, he was surprised to see that Tim was the only person that didn't bet against him cracking. "Did you tell him about this?"

"No. I was only going offer if you accepted first. You two are better as a team. I was going to have you ask him." She told him.

Tony thought about it. Tim McGee was his best friend and like the little brother he never had but always asked for, for Christmas before his mother died. He also trusted him the most next to Gibbs to watch his six. "I'll ask him. I'll go over tonight."

"Okay. I know tomorrow's Saturday and your day off, but I expect you here at 0600 to finish the details. Agent McGee too, if he agrees. You leave for Spain Sunday morning. Goodnight Agent DiNozzo, and congratulations again." She said as Tony made his way to the door.

"Thanks." He said before leaving. As he walked down the stairs and towards the bullpen. It was empty. Tony sighed as he grabbed his bag and headed for the elevators. Just as the doors closed, he looked back at where he spent the majority of the last few years. Then the doors closed on that part of his life.

Tim McGee sat at his type writer and stared at it blankly. He had nothing and he hadn't in quite some time. Deep Six had only been released a month ago but his publisher was already pushing for the outline of his next Tibbs novel. What Lindy realize is that there was no new Tibbs stories, unless she thought his readers wanted Tibbs leaving the team and taking a three month vacation in Mexico. That topic still made him a little upset. He was glad that Gibbs had fully recovered his memory but he didn't think it was fare that he and Tony be demoted just because Gibbs got up one day and decided he wanted his job back. But there was nothing he could do about it, he was after all only the junior agent.

Tim decided to give up for the night and just go to bed. As he made his way towards the bedroom, there was a knock on the door. He wasn't expecting anybody but when he looked through the peek hole, he wasn't surprised to see Tony standing there. All day he could tell something was weighing on Tony's mind and he knew that if Tony needed to talk, he'd be there with pizza and beer.

"Hey, what's going on?" Tim asked, opening the door and stepping out of the way to let him in. Tony walked in and got busy.

"I have to talk to you about something." Tony said finally after plating the pizza and handing Tim a beer.

"Ya I figured." Tim said gesturing to the pizza and beer in his hands.

"What, a guy can't just stop by and hang out with his McBuddy?" Tony said, faking hurt. When McGee eyed him warily, he gave up and got to the point. "Okay, you're right." Tony let out a deep breath.

"Just spit it out DiNozzo, you're starting to worry me." Tim said noticing Tony's expression.

"I got a promotion." He told him.

Tim froze. He was happy for his friend but also knew that it meant being split up. "Congratulations." He said half heartedly.

"Thanks. I'm shipping out to Rota, Spain Sunday morning." Tony explained.

"Wow, Spain. That's pretty far away and it's really soon." McGee said without making his disappointment that his partner would be so far away.

"I know but this means that you get to be Senior Field Agent now." He said trying to approach his question.

"I told you before Tony, I don't want to be Gibbs' Senior Agent, I want to be yours." Tim explained. He always pictured he would be under DiNozzo, like when Gibbs was away.

"Were you serious about that?" Tony remembered that conversation and it's why he thought the director's suggestion was realistic.

"Of course I was." Tim said not realizing what Tony was getting at.

"Then it won't be completely crazy to say that the real reason I came over here tonight was to ask you to come with me to Spain to be my Senior Field Agent." Tony said.

For the second time that night, Tim froze. He was being serious. Tim had spent enough time around a joking DiNozzo to know that he wasn't joking now. "Are you sure?" he asked anyways.

"Of course. The director told me I needed a computer geek and said that you were the most qualified field nerd we have." Tony explained.

"Wow. That's….. wow." He said pondering what to do. He wanted it but it would be hard leaving everybody else behind.

"Does that mean yes?" Tony asked, hoping it did.

Tim looked him in the eye and made his decision. "Ya. Ya it does."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note- Thank you all for reading the first chapter, especially those of you who took the time out to review. I love hearing from you guys and even more so when you have suggestions. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer- Didn't put this in the last chapter but…. I don't own anything! Trust me if I did, there would be no wondering when Tony and Ziva would get together because it would have already happened.**

Tony and Tim sat around the conference table in Jenny's office the next day. It was approaching noon and they had just finished putting together the team with Agents Rebecca Green and Sam Fields. Jenny was at her desk making the necessary phone calls when an irate Jethro Gibbs came in.

"Why the hell did you call me in on my first day off in a month?" Gibbs yelled approaching her desk. He was completely oblivious to the two other agents in the room.

"Why good afternoon to you too, Jethro." Jenny greeted the man in front of her with a slight grin.

"Jen." Gibbs growled.

Jenny sighed and gave up. The man was hopeless. "The reason I called you in here today was because we need to fill two vacancies in your team."

"What do you mean two vacancies on my team?" he asked bewildered. That's when he noticed Tony and Tim standing behind him. He turned around and walked up to them so that he was only mere inches from their faces. "Something you boys want to tell me?"

Before either agent was able to answer, the director did for them. "I have promoted Agent DiNozzo and gave him his own team in Rota, Spain. He needed a Senior Field Agent and one with a background in computers, Agent McGee was the obvious choice and he accepted."

"Is that true?" he said addressing McGee.

"Yes, Boss. I wanted the opportunity to be a Senior Field Agent." Tim explained.

"You would have been even if you didn't take the job." Gibbs pointed out. He figured he took the job out of loyalty to Tony that is until he heard McGee let out a small laugh under his breath.

"Like hell I would." Tim mumbled under his breath. Finally taking his stand.

"What was that?" Gibbs asked, anger bubbled up inside of him. McGee never talked back to him, but there was a first time for everything.

McGee thought about backing off but then changed his mind. "I might have been on the team the longest but you and I both know that, that wouldn't have mattered to you."

"Do you really believe that?" he asked, keeping the expression on his face unreadable.

"Why shouldn't I?" Tim replied almost laughing. He didn't know what had gotten into him but he did know that he had to keep going. He had to get this off of his chest before he left. " You make it pretty obvious that you really don't trust me as a field agent. You only use me for the computer stuff. I'm beginning to think that the only reason you made me a full time field agent on your team was to eliminate my commute from Norfolk."

"That's…" Gibbs began but Tim cut him off.

"At least when you were in Mexico, Tony trusted me to be his senior agent and more in the field then you ever did. That's why I have no problem what so ever following him to Spain." He continued.

The room went silent, the air so thick you needed a pretty sharp knife to cut through it. Tony and Jenny wore shocked expressions on their faces while Gibbs' only softened a little. Realizing that he wasn't going to get a reaction out of Gibbs, Tim spoke up again. "If that is all, Director, I need to go home and pack." Then he turned back to Tony . "I'll see you tomorrow and thank you again _Boss." _He said, putting an emphases on the word, then turning and leaving.

Gibbs turned back to Jenny. "Give me the files, I'll get back to you by Monday." Jenny wordlessly handed him the files. Gibbs took them and headed towards the door. Before leaving, he turned around and looked at Tony. "Congratulations DiNozzo. You deserve it."

"Thanks Boss." Tony said still in minor shock as he watched his mentor leave.

Tony looked at the man sitting next to him on the plane. They had barley spoken since they had met at the airport earlier that morning, only exchanging brief pleasantries. Tony knew Tim a lot better than people gave him credit for and therefore knew that he was still stewing from yesterdays confrontation. After leaving the first three hours of silent- something that was extremely difficult for him- he decide to broach the topic. "How long have you felt that way?"

Tim looked at him questioningly for a second until it dawned on him what Tony was talking about. "A while." He said vaguely.

"How longs a while?" he asked Tim looked away. "Come on. You know you can tell me."

Tim sighed. He was right. "Since Ziva joined to the team." He admitted. "I accepted being the low man on the totem pole when it was you, me and Kate. But I thought when Ziva joined, that I would move up, but clearly I was wrong."

"It did seem like she earned his trust faster than the rest of us." Tony mused.

Whatever it was that she did do to earn it was a best kept secret. That's why when Tim overheard Gibbs and Ziva's conversation when Gibbs was in the hospital – the one that had restored Gibbs' memory – he was so shocked. "Trust me, I would have done it too if I had gotten to him first."

"What are you talking about?" Tony said confusingly. Obviously Tim knew something that he did not.

"Ziva gained his trust by killing Ari to save Gibbs' life." Tim told him. There was no point hiding the truth now.

"I thought Gibbs killed him?" Tony said with gritted teeth.

"No, Ziva did. I don't understand why they didn't tell us but that's what happened." Tim told him.

"I wanted him dead too, but I can't imagine killing your own brother to save a practical stranger." He said. This was a usually a sore subject with the team. It was clear that even though Ziva David was now a welcome member of the MCRT, Kate Todd was still dearly missed.

"Ya. I don't think I could ever be put in the position." Tim agreed.

They lapsed back into silence once again until Tony broke it again. "He was really upset, you know."

"Gibbs doesn't get upset. He gets royally pissed, but not upset." Tim insisted.

"No this was different. I went over there last night, and the door was locked." Tony told him. In all of the years he had worked for Gibbs, the door to his house was never once locked.

"Maybe he just didn't want any company." McGee pointed out.

"Gibbs never wants company but it doesn't stop him from keeping the door unlocked. And you know that." Tony argued.

"How Tony? How would I know that?" Tim asked, his voice starting to rise.

"Oh come on. You can't tell me you've never gone over there. If not to talk but for the silent support." Tony said.

Tim looked at him. "I've never been over there. Hell, I couldn't even tell you where he lived."

Tony was in shock. Everybody had needed to go over there at some point in their time with the team and god knows that Tim had moments that if put in the same position, would make everybody else running to Gibbs. He felt bad for the younger man, having no one to turn to. He promised himself that he wouldn't let his Probie go through anything alone anymore. "Well, I guess we've got a clean slate now."

"Ya, ya we do." Tim agreed, smiling.

"Thanks for coming, Tim." Tony said sincerely.

"Anytime, DiNozzo. Anytime." Tim said equally as sincere.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note- I love your responses to this story. I wasn't entirely thrilled with this chapter but in order to get to the real action, it had to be done. The next chapter will reveal more about what happens to Tony and Tim in Rota. In the meantime, enjoy this and enjoy the premier tonight! Can't wait!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own anything.**

Ziva David walked into the bullpen Monday morning and was surprised to see it empty. Tony not being there wasn't unusual but McGee was usually there before her. Taking a closer look at his desk, she noticed that it was completely cleared off. "What are you looking for?" Gibbs asked, coming out of nowhere behind her, a coffee in his hand.

"McGee is not here yet and his desk is cleaned out." She said unfazed by his appearing act, something Mossad trained her for.

"Well yeah Ziva. DiNozzo's is too." He said making his way behind his own desk and sitting down.

"Well are you going to tell me why?" Ziva asked.

"They didn't tell you?" he questioned back.

Before she could answer, the elevator opened and Abby came out , walking towards Gibbs' desk. "Hey, do you know where McGee is? I need his opinion on something."

"They didn't tell either of you." Gibbs concluded. He was shocked that neither Tony nor Tim had told their friends that they were leaving the country indefinitely.

"Who didn't tell us what?" Abby asked, completely oblivious to the empty desks behind her.

"DiNozzo and McGee shipped out to Spain yesterday." He stated.

"Oh cool! I always wanted to go to Spain!" Abby exclaimed. "When do they get back?"

"They're not coming back Abs. Tony got his own team and McGee went with him." Gibbs explained.

"So you are saying they just left and didn't tell us." Ziva mused.

"Looks that way." Gibbs said.

"But you knew." Abby pointed out.

"Director called me in Saturday and told me. I also had to pick two new agents ." he said handing Ziva two folders.

"They wanted a clean break. That's what they got." Gibbs told her acting like he didn't care. "Ziva, even though you're not an official agent, you are senior so move your stuff to DiNozzo's desk. New agents will be here in an hour."

With that Gibbs left heading for the elevator, leaving the two shocked woman behind him. "Why didn't they tell us?" Abby cried again, Gibb's answer didn't satisfy her.

"I do not know Abby but I believe he is not telling us everything." Ziva said as she began packing her desk to transfer her things.

"Do you thinks there's something wrong with Tony or McGee?" Abby questioned worriedly.

"No, but from the way Gibbs is acting something happened between them and Gibbs. An argument of sorts." Ziva mused.

"They don't argue with Gibbs. Besides, even if they did, what about?" Abby said dismissively.

"Well I believe something is wrong, and I'm going to find out what." Ziva said as she dropped her files on Tony's old desk and walking back to get some more things.

"Okay, say you're right and something did happen, how are you going to find out? Gibbs will never tell you and we don't know how to contact Tony and Tim." Abby pointed out. She really didn't want to believe that the three men had parted on bad terms.

"Yes we do." Ziva said picking up a note that was left in one of the desk draws. She read it out loud.

_Dear Zee and Abs,_

_ Sorry I didn't tell you about this but it all happened so fast that there wasn't time to. I hope you're not mad at us for leaving. We just needed a clean break. I promise I'll take care of Probie. Our contact info at the bottom. Miss you guys keep in touch._

_ Love, Tony._

_Dear Abby and Ziva,_

_ As you probably know by now, I left with Tony. I'm sorry we didn't say goodbye but I just had to get out of there. It's not personal. At least not where you two are concerned. Tony put our new numbers at the bottom with the address to the apartment we are sharing. I'll miss you guys. Please keep in touch._

_ Love, Tim._

After finishing reading the letters and their contact info, Ziva looked at Abby who had been quite the whole time. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Anger flashed through Abby's eyes. "No, I'm not okay. Two of my best friends just picked up and moved to another country and all they left behind was a stupid note!" she yelled, gaining the attention of everybody in the bullpen area. Abby glared at them, one that rivaled her bosses, and they quickly went back to work.

Ziva waited until she calmed down again, knowing that Abby needed to get that off her chest, before speaking again. " I know you are upset. I am as well but they had to do this for them. They both more than deserved this and we should support their decision."

"I guess you're right." Abby conceded. She really was happy for them but she wasn't happy about the way they left. "What do you think Tim meant by 'It's nothing personal. At least not where you two are concerned'?" she asked out of the blue.

"I believe it is the reason for Gibbs' current mood." Ziva replied, wondering the same thing.

"What are you thinking?" Abby asked worriedly. She saw the realization flash through Ziva's eyes and knew something was wrong.

"I think that the reason for Gibbs' behavior is that he and McGee had a fight before they left." Ziva surmised.

Abby almost laughed. "McGee and Gibbs don't fight."

"Well everybody has their breaking point." Ziva protested.

"But what would they fight about?" Abby questioned.

Ziva thought about it for a second. Then it came to her. " Do you remember the conversation the four of us had just after Gibbs had went back to Mexico after helping me out?" she asked.

"You mean the one about the possibility of Gibbs coming back if any of the rest of us were in trouble?" Abby questioned back.

"Yes. Do you remember what McGee said?" Ziva said.

"No." Abby said, straining to remember.

"He said 'Gibbs would probably do it for the rest of you guys, but most likely not me.'" Ziva told her.

"Yeah and I told him he was crazy and that of course Gibbs would come back to help him too." Abby said.

"Well maybe he was convinced that he was correct and that he wasn't an important member on this team so now when he was leaving he finally told Gibbs what he thought. Now Gibbs realizes that he made McGee feel that way and cannot have the opportunity to fix it." Ziva mused.

"Oh! Poor Timmy!" Abby said as she headed back towards the elevator. "I'm going to fix this and make Timmy and Gibbs make up!"

"I hope you do." Ziva murmured before returning to packing her desk.

**TBC….**


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note****- Sorry that it took so long to update but school is so crazy that I barley have time to sleep much less write. Hope you guys like this chapter. As always, reviews are appreciated.**

**Disclaimer****- I don't own anything. ;(**

It had been six months since Tony and Tim had left for Spain. The agents that had originally been assigned to Gibbs' team to replace them had been reassigned to different teams because they couldn't deal with their moody boss and crazy, ninja senior field agent. Since they had left, five other agents had came and left the team.

Gibbs had never been so hard to deal with. Abby and Ziva had kept in touch with their friends through post cards, emails, phone calls and video chats. Despite their efforts, neither Gibbs nor McGee would to each other. Tony's only contact with Gibbs was once a while post card or a quick phone call for some advice on a case. Besides that, he stuck by his Probie.

In Spain, Tony, Tim and the rest of their team had been on a role. They had the second highest solve rate out of any NCIS team, only beaten by Gibbs. Both Agents Green and Fields were excellent at their jobs and even though they found their boss a little juvenile at times, they enjoyed working for him.

Although not as bad as it used to be, Tony had never truly given up on teasing Tim. But he was the only one who was allowed to. DiNozzo's rule number 3: Tim McGeek is property of Tony DiNozzo and nobody else. Harm will come to those who believe otherwise.

Abby laughed at Tim's accounts of Tony's antics and at Tony's new ideas for McNicknames. She had gotten post cards, usually once a week until they stopped coming two weeks into the seventh month. She become worried and voiced her concerns to Gibbs who simply shook them off and told her they were just busy.

Even though he said this, Gibbs couldn't shake the feeling in his gut telling him that she was right. He tried to shake the feeling that they were in trouble out of his head. After all, they made it pretty clear that they didn't need him to save them anymore. He was wrong.

One night, after a very long and tiring case, Cynthia called Gibbs and asked for him and Ziva to see the director upstairs. Gibbs grumbled about wanting to go home, but finally agreed.

Five minutes later, after sending his newest agents home, him and Ziva appeared in Jenny's office. When they walked in they saw two people sitting there looking like they had recently gotten seriously beaten. "What's this about, Jen? I wanna go home."

"Jethro, these are Agents Rebecca Green and Sam Fields, they were-" Jenny started but Ziva cut her off.

"Assigned to Tony's team. What happened. Where are Tony and McGee?" Ziva questioned.

"Two weeks ago, we got an anonymous to investigate the murder of a Petty officer who was in Spain on leave, to visit his family. When we got there, there was no body." Green started.

"There was, however, four thugs waiting for us. We never saw them coming. They came up behind us and put rags covered in what we believe to be chloroform, over our mouth and noses. They held us captive until four days ago when they let me and Becca go, saying that we didn't deserve this because we weren't there when 'it' happened." Fields finished.

"So they still have DiNozzo and McGee?" the angry senior agent asked.

"As far as we know, yes. We haven't seen them since the first day we were there." Becca told him. She had heard stories about Gibbs, even before working with Tony and Tim, and she knew that her answers should be short and to the point.

"Do you know the name of the name of the man who abducted you?" Ziva asked.

"He said his name was Azzan Biram." Sam told them. At the mention of the name, Ziva's face blanched, something Gibbs did not fail to notice.

"Do you know him?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes. He is… or was Mossad. My father told me he was dead." Ziva told him. After the past two years, Ziva came to realize just how much of a lire her father really was.

"Of course he told you that. Yet another rogue Mossad officer." Gibbs said angrily. Even though he had never met Eli David personally, he didn't like him.

"He kept going on and on about avenging his best friend's death. Do you know who that was?" Sam asked, addressing Ziva.

Ziva bowed her head. It was now all starting to make sense. She wondered of this would ever go away. "His best friend was Ari."

Gibbs let out a frustrated growl. He thought they were done with this part of their lives when the bullet connected with his skull. Now it was up to him to make sure that more lives weren't taken because of the bastard. He looked at Jenny. " I want to be on a plane to Rota by the morning." He stated, a demand not a request.

"Already done. You and Ziva leave at 0700 tomorrow." She said. While it wasn't standard protocol to just let them leave, she knew that it would be easier to go with Gibbs plan instead of fighting. She would have to just deal with the SecNav.

"Good." Was all he said before storming out of the office. Ziva gave a curt nod to the director before following him out.

"Do you really think this is a wise way to go about things?" Ziva said as she quickly followed him down the stairs.

"What?" he asked angrily as he turned around to face her.

"If he knows what everyone, besides you and I, knows he believes that you killed Ari. He is just using Tony and McGee as bait. As soon as he finds out you are coming- because he will find out- he will you before you get a chance to get to them." Ziva told him. She had known Azzan since they were children and knew almost everything about him, including his torturing methods. It was not pretty.

"I am not going to risk their lives to save my own ass. I will not be the reason they die. Despite the popular the opinion, I do care." Gibbs told her. He didn't care if it would cost him his life, as long as Tony and Tim were safe.

"We do not think that you do not care." She tried to convince him. It seemed as though this was going to bring out what he had been really feeling. She knew that it wasn't going to last long though so she had to act fast.

Her and Abby had had a plan. As soon as there was a sign that his resolve was going to crack, Abby was going to get it out of him. Everybody knew that she was the only person that could get him to talk. But, unfortunately, Abby was him sick so Ziva had to try her best.

"Yeah well not according to McGee." Gibbs would never admit it but it really hurt that Tim didn't think that he cared. It was true that he did keep McGee at arm's length. That was only because he didn't believe he needed a father figure that Tony and Ziva so obviously needed. He knew now how wrong he was.

"McGee did not mean those things." Ziva said but catching the 'come on' look on Gibbs face she knew she was beat. "Okay so maybe he did mean it somehow but he most likely said most of it in the cool of the moment."

"It's the 'heat of the moment' and the bottom line was that he meant it." Gibbs said as he began to walk away again.

"He regrets it though." Ziva said quickly causing Gibbs to turn around again.

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"Tony told me that he has been beating himself up about the whole thing. He was going to call you and try to make amends but he did not believe you would hear him out and he knows how you feel about apologies." Ziva explained. She hadn't planned on telling Gibbs that information. Tony had not even told Abby, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Damn it." It was bad enough that Tim didn't believe that he cared but know he didn't even think he would want to make amends. "I'm going to make this right. I need to make this right. But first we have to save them."

**TBC…. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note- Sorry I haven't updated in a while but I was dealing with a serious case or writer's block. Hope you like this chapter. Please let me know what you think.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own NCIS or its characters.**

Tim groaned. His head hurt like hell. He guessed that's what happened when you got beaten on a regular bases for the past two weeks. Every day, like clockwork, two masked men would come in with oatmeal and water and then beat the day lights out of him. Then they left him to eat his food. This had happened three time a day.

During his time in… whatever this place was, he had not seen or heard from Tony. He had tried to ask the goons about him but they never spoke. He was worried about his friend. He could even hear Tony's joking voice in his head: '_Calm down McWorrywart. I can take a couple of punches.'_

He supposed that Tony's voice kept making its way into his subconscious was just a mechanism to keep his sanity. It was just barley working.

He had also done a lot of thinking while he sat there in silence day after day. He thought about how much he missed Abby's hugs, Ducky's stories, Ziva butchering the English language, and Jimmy cracking under Gibbs' immense stare. He tried to avoid thinking about Gibbs but sometimes there was no escaping it.

He regretted how he had left things with the man. When it happened, he was just so angry that Gibbs decided just then to show the slightest sign of actually caring, that everything just spilled out. Tim had wanted to talk to the man but he was afraid of what his reaction may have been. He wished now that he had at least tried. The possibility of dying in the cold, grey, damp room was making him wish he had done a lot of things.

All of a sudden, Tim heard footsteps approaching and he braced himself for what he knew was coming. The only difference between the past days and today was that groaning could also be heard. The door swung open and a limp figure was thrown to the ground. Then the men walked out and slammed the door behind them.

Tim slid the short distance to the body lying on the floor and let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Tony. "Tony?" Tim said, seeing that Tony's eyes were closed.

Tony's eyes popped open upon hearing the familiar voice. "Probie?"

"Yeah, Tony it's me. How you feeling?" Tim asked even though he knew it was a stupid question if they had been doing to Tony what they had been doing to him.

"Like shit." Tony groaned out as he sat up and propped himself against the wall next to Tim. "What about you?"

"Dido." Tim said simply. His head was spinning from just crawling to Tony and he fought to regain his control. "Did they tell you why we're here?"

"Nope. You?" Tony said turning his head, hoping that Tim would have a better answer then he did.

"Nope." They both sighed and lapsed into silence. They didn't know what to say to each other in this situation. Sure they were worried about each other and were glad when they saw the other one was okay but neither of them was going to admit it. Finally, Tony broke the silence.

"Do you think anybody knows we're missing yet?" he asked.

"Probably. We missed the last MTAC meeting with the director and there's no way Abby's not freaking out that she hasn't heard from us in a while." Tim said. He hoped that someone would come for them soon, he really hated this place.

"And she'll pester Gibbs, he'll ask the director, she'll say she hasn't heard from us and bing bang boom, we're rescued." Tony finished the thought, trying to stay positive.

"If only it were that simple." Tim sighed. Tony noticed the despair in the younger man's voice. He had a feeling that Tim wouldn't be optimistic about this whole situation. Not that he blamed the kid but it was essential to survive the ordeal to be somewhat positive.

"Don't worry McPesimist, Gibbs and Ziva will find us in no time. But while we wait, we need a game plan." Tony said.

"A game plan for what?" Tim questioned.

"Well, I think it's pretty obvious that they're going to tell us what there after soon. They wouldn't have put us together otherwise." Tony explained.

"Okay, then what's the plan?" asked Tim.

"Let me do all of the talking." Tony told him.

"No, absolutely not. I'm not going to let you take all of the beating." Tim argued.

"I'm the boss here. You're my responsibility and I'm not going to let anything happen to you that can be avoided on my watch." Tony said. There was no way he'd let them hurt Tim. Even if it cost him his own life. Besides, he promised Abby and Ziva.

"And it's my responsibility as your Senior Field Agent to watch out for my boss and always have his back. No matter what the cost." Tim said matching the glare that the older agent was sending him. "Besides, if they want something like the codes to MTAC or something, you're not qualified to talk to them."

"Oh really?" Tony said playfully, to break the seriousness.

"Yes, really." Tim said, shaking his head at Tony's goofiness, even though he found it comforting.

The two men were sitting in silence, lost in their own thoughts, when the two masked men came back in accomplished by an unmasked man that they hadn't seen before. The two 'goons', as Tony decided to call them, brought two chairs with them. They put the chairs down, grabbed the agents off the ground and tied them to the chairs. The two men, too weak to fight back just complied and let them tie them up. The stronger in the corner just smiled at them.

"Leave us." The man ordered, as the men finished with Tony and McGee. The men exited and left them alone.

Tony examined the man. He was about six feet, maybe one hundred- sixty pounds. He was definitely middle eastern of some sort and had deep brown eyes. "Who are you and what do you want with us?" he demanded.

"My name is Azzan and I seek revenge." The man said with a thick Israeli accent.

Tony groaned inwardly, he knew exactly what that meant. "Let me guess, rogue Mossad Agent."

"If that is what you call it America, then yes. I faked my own death three years ago in order to separate myself from that world." Azzan told them, trying to catch their reaction to what he was saying.

"I'm sorry but I don't see how this has anything to do with us." Tim piped up.

"Oh no! Let me guess!" Tony shouted like a little kid. "You feel in love with Ziva and she broke your heart so now you want to make her pay by killing us. How'd I do?" Tony asked.

Azzan let out a small laugh. "No actually, Ziva David is like a sister to me." He explained.

"Well that explains it then. I think it's some sort of requirement that her brothers must be a psychopathic killers." Tony laughed bitterly and Tim chuckled along with him.

Tony didn't expect the sudden fist connecting with his jaw or the white hot pain that went along with it. "Ari Haswari was a good man who was corrupted by his own father. You will realize that in your time here." Azzan told them before leaving them alone again.

"Well I didn't see that coming." Tony stated, still feeling the pain from earlier.

"Yeah well I guess we should have known this, he, wasn't going to go away as easy as it did. It took over a year to track him down and by the time we did it was too late for Kate. A single bullet wasn't going to end this war." Tim sighed.

"Yeah, we should have seen this coming." Tony agreed. "I guess now we just wait."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note- The number of reviews has been dropping and I hope you guys aren't getting bored with it. If you guys haven't noticed it, the chapters are going to alternate between Gibbs/Ziva with hints of Abby and Tony/Tim until they meet up. I wasn't so excited about this chapter but I needed Gibbs to realize more things about his people he didn't know. Tony and Tim will be back later. Hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything.**

"What do you mean, you're on your way to Spain?" Abby shouted over the phone to Gibbs who was on a plane with Ziva the next morning.

"I'm sorry, Abs but there wasn't a lot of time to brief you." He tried to reason with the hysterical woman.

"I told you something was wrong with Tony and Timmy but you didn't listen to me! Now they're probably dead" Abby sobbed.

"They're not dead Abby! I would know if they were." Gibbs told her. Even though DiNozzo and McGee were no longer on his team, didn't mean that he lost the connection he had with both boys.

"Please bring them home Gibbs, please." Abby pleaded.

"I will." Gibbs said simply before hanging up on the girl. He sighed. This was such a mess. He wished that he was sure in what he had said but he couldn't deny the concern that they wouldn't get there fast enough.

"She is worried, yes?" Ziva asked when she noticed her boss's expression after hanging up the phone.

"She's always worried about those two." Gibbs said simply, unwilling to get into it again. "Tell me more about this Azzan."

"I have known him since I was a young girl. When Ari came to visit, he would spend most of his time with Azzan. When they became old enough, my father sent Ari to Medical School and Azzan joined him for protection. They worked together for years at Mossad and he helped with his last mission by learning everything there was to know about you and your team. When Ari died, my father told me that Azzan had also been killed." Ziva told him.

"How much did he know exactly about the team?" Gibbs questioned.

"He knows every place you were stationed as a Marine. He knows all about everyone of your wives. He knows the names of everyone Tony has ever dated and every frat brother from college. He knows that there is nothing more important to McGee then his little sister and that he was writing a book but decided to publish it under a fake name so Tony wouldn't find out about it. And most of all, he knew every single last detail about Kate because Ari was so obsessed with her." Ziva explained to him.

"Did you know all of these things, too?" he asked as he rubbed his temples.

"Not at first. But when my father informed me that I would be taking the liaison position on your team I looked through it. I like to know who I am working with." She admitted to him.

"So you knew.." he trailed off so she finished his sentence.

"About your first wife and daughter before your accident, yes." Ziva once again admitted. "I did not, however, know that the others did not know."

"Well I'm not one for sharing." Gibbs grunted. Silence over came them before Gibbs remembered something she had said earlier. "Did you say McGee wrote a book?"

"Yes, he wrote it under the name the name Thom E. Gemcity, which if you rearrange the letters spell Timothy McGee." She explained as she pulled a copy of the book out of her carry on and handed it to him.

"_Deep Six: The Adventures of L.J. Tibbs. _Did he write this about me?" he questioned.

"Mostly, yes. The main character does seem to have a lot of the same traits as you. There are characters based on all of us. Agent Tommy, Agent McGregor, Mossad Officer Lisa, Forensic Scientist Amy Sutton, Medical Examiner Birdie, and his assistant Pimmy Jalmer." She explained.

"Wait. If he started this when Ari was still doing his research, how did he base a character on you? He didn't know you." Gibbs asked.

"_Deep Six _was not the first book he wrote. He just didn't publish it." She told him. She had never told Tim that she knew about his books even though she was a little more than angry about his description of the 'emotionally distant' Lisa.

Gibbs started to read the first chapter of the book and immediately became enthralled in it. The kid was a good writer. Of course he already knew that due to the fact that he had never needed him to go back over a report more than once.

Ziva observed as her boss got lost in the book. Every once in a while he would snort, no doubt at Agent Tommy's antics. After an hour Gibbs put down the book and rubbed his face. She knew what he was he was thinking because it was the same thing she had thought while reading it: 'what happened to us.'

"This said 'adventures'." He pointed out the fact that the word was plural. "This seems to be only one case. Is there more books?" the older man questioned.

"The release of his second book is in another month. The name of it is: _Agents and Brothers: Tommy Takes the Lead.." _She told him.

"He wrote an entire book while he and Tony have been gone." The boss said incredulously.

"No. From what I understand it begins with the explanation that Tibbs had retired after a difficult case in which he gets severely injured." She told him.

Gibbs didn't know why the character in McGee's book affected him so much. From what he read of the book so far, Tibbs was respected by author. Now he was just being thrown away. It made him feel guilty.

Ziva sensed his guilt. "We will find them Gibbs. Then you will be able to make things right." She tried to reassure him.

He ignored her comment and began to blankly stare out of the window.

**TBC….**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note- Look at this! Two updates in two days. I decided that due to the amazing reviews that I got from you guys last night, I would update again. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own.**

"I hope you realize that there are people looking for us." Tony told Azzan the next time he came to see them.

Both Tony and Tim had been left tied to the chairs all night both periodically drifting in and out of an unconscious state. Although by all appearances Tony looked much worse, he worried that Tim had more serious internal injuries. He was having trouble comprehending some things and groaned every time he moved his head.

"Ah yes. By people, you mean the famous Leroy Jethro Gibbs, I presume. In that case I can't wait to finally meet him." Azzan said with an evil grin and gleam in his eye.

"We're bate." Tim concluded.

"Very good Agent McGee. And they say you are not a capable investigator." Azzan laughed.

"Shut up." Tony growled, angry that the man had just insulted his best friend. Tim didn't even seem to register the comment.

Azzan ignored him. "I'm sure Agent Gibbs and Ziva are rushing to your rescue as we speak. Hopefully I will be able to reverse the brainwashing you have put her through."

"We did not 'brainwash' Ziva. She knew that her brother was bad news without our help. ." Tony protested.

"Do you really think that she would choose you two over loyalty to her country and to her own brother? I think not." Azzan questioned him.

"I trust Ziva." Tony answered through gritted teeth.

"As much as you trusted your dear Caitlyn?" the man asked, knowing he had struck a chord.

"Don't you dare bring her in to this. You don't know anything about her." Tony yelled. The anger was so intense as he struggled against his bonds. Again there was no reaction from Tim. His head hung low and Tony believed he was no longer conscious.

"Is that so, Agent DiNozzo?"Azzan laughed at his little understanding. "I know more about her then you did. Ari loved her."

"Oh yeah. I he loved her so much, why did he kill her?" Tony asked bitterly.

"Because Agent McGee would not cooperate." Azzan stated , looking now at Tim whose head shut up.

"What?" Tim asked, his voice weak.

"We all know that you were his first target. If you hadn't moved, Caitlyn wouldn't have died." Azzan explained to him as he gleefully watched the emotional pain begin to creep up on his face to accompany the physical pain.

Tony knew that this would hurt Tim more then he could imagine. He was well aware of Tim's survivors guilt and the fact that he had said things that didn't help him improve the situation. "Don't listen to him, Tim. It's not your fault."

"The plan was to eliminate one of Gibbs' agents. While you were the newest and would have been the least missed, you had the knowledge to end our other attacks that nobody else did. When you took cover behind that car, and DiNozzo's head was blocked by Caitlyn's, she was the only option." Azzan explained.

Now it was Tony's turn to feel guilty when he heard that the only thing protecting him from that bullet was Kate's head. Seeing that he had left both Agent in an overwhelming state of guilt, he left, laughing cynically.

"There is no way your head was in the way Tony. Abby and I went over his trajectory for hours." Tim tried to fight the pounding in his head so he could explain better.

Tony trusted both Tim and Abby when it came to the technical stuff like that so some of the guilt washed away. But not all of it.

"There is no denying that I was the one that was supposed to die though. Not Kate. It should have been me." Tim sighed.

"No Tim." Tony said trying to stop him from going through a guilt trip.

"You saw where that bullet ended up. You even said it yourself, I owed the other gunmen my life." Tim said. There were many sleepless nights because of this topic. He had went to Ducky for something that would help him sleep but when the older man had asked him what was bothering him, he bailed. This was the first time he had actually talked about it.

" I didn't mean that, Tim. I was upset and I took it out on you. I shouldn't have."Tony said trying to convince him.

"But it was the truth. You guys would have been better off if I had died and Kate had lived. I was just the new guy." Tim sighed. "I bet Ziva and Kate would have been really great friends. I could almost see them double teaming you."

"Enough!" Tony yelled at him. He wasn't going to let Tim wallow in self guilt and let this destroy him. They had too much at stake now for him to give up and let Azzan win. "So what if Ari missed you. You can't go back and change anything. As much as it may hurt, there was nothing any of us could have done to save her. Now do you think Kate would want you to act like this?" Tony questioned.

"No." Tim said meekly, ashamed at himself.

"You're damn right she wouldn't! She would want you to go out and live your life as best you can. We have to stay strong and wait for Gibbs to get here because he will get here. You hear me?" he demanded.

"You're right." Tim agreed. He didn't know why he was getting like this. After the whole Benedict incident , he decided he was going to become a great agent, if not for himself but for Kate.

"Good." Tony said. He was glad that he had at least began to repair some of the damage that their captor had done to McGee's mental state.

The silence came back to the room as Tony observed Tim more closely than he had been able to earlier. His eyes were glossy and unfocused. He really hoped Gibbs and Ziva would get there soon, because the younger man couldn't go much longer without medical attention.

"I really miss her, Tony." Tim said out of nowhere, shacking Tony out of his thoughts.

"Me too, Kid. Me too." Tony told him as he watched McGee go back into the peaceful world of unconsciousness. "Please Hurry Boss."

**TBC….**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note- Here's another chapter. I'm so glad to receive your reviews. I hope they keep coming. Thank you all! Enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own anything. Just Azzan and I don't like him that much…..**

Gibbs and Ziva walked into their hotel room after going over and reviewing the place where their friends had last been seen. Because it was a fairly common area, there was not much to go on. It had been so long since they were taken, that if there were any witnesses, they were either long gone or had been discredited.

"You can have the shower first." Gibbs said gruffly as he threw a towel in Ziva's direction.

"Okay." Ziva said, knowing that the older man wanted to be alone.

When Ziva disappeared into the bathroom, he sat down on one of the beds and sighed. He looked down and saw the photographs that they had flashing around the area, hoping that somebody had seen Tony or Tim. None had.

He grabbed his bag and pulled out the copy of Tim's book. As he continued to read, he could sense both the author's and McGregor's respect and trust in Tibbs decrease. Getting frustrated that he had to read the book to notice McGee's feelings, he threw the book against the farthest wall.

Ziva walked out of the bathroom in just enough time to see the book hit the wall and drop to the floor. She looked at Gibbs, who was still staring at the book, and sighed. Gibbs looked up at her and she saw how vulnerable he was through his eyes. She hadn't seen him looked this lost since he helped him remember his life after he came out of his coma.

Before either was able to say anything, Gibbs' cell phone rang. Believing it was either Abby or Jenny, he picked it up without even looking at the caller id. "Gibbs."

"I'm glad you finally showed up, Agent Gibbs. I was starting to wonder if you would ever come." A man's voice said from the other end. "Please put your phone on speaker."

Gibbs figuring it was the man who had his boys, he did as he was told and put on the speaker phone. "It's on. Now tell us what you want."

The man ignored him. "Hello Ziva."

"Hello Azzan. What have you done with my friends?" Ziva asked.

"I thought I was your friend." Azzan said, pretending to act like a small child.

"Not any more, we are not." Ziva hissed.

"I want to speak to my agents!" Gibbs demanded. He didn't have time to play games.

"My resources tell me that Anthony and Timothy are no longer your agents." Azzan told him.

"Let me talk to them." Gibbs growled, ignoring the man's comment.

"I don't see why you would want to they are very disrespectful." Azzan said, trying to anger him further.

"And why should they respect you?" Gibbs asked.

"As the person who controls whether they eat or not, whether they drink or not, and whether they die or not, I believe I deserve it." Azzan said cynically. "But I know how you work. You want proof of life, I'll give it to you."

Gibbs waited as something rustled in the background. "Gibbs?" a voice said weakly.

"Tim?" Gibbs said trying to mask the relief that he was still alive.

"First name…not good." Tim said, his voice barely audible.

"Just listen to me, Tim. I'm going to get you out of this. You got that?" Gibbs said in his best

Tim ignored it. He had more important things to say. "I'm sorry boss." It was quite but the older man heard it loud and clear.

"No, Tim. We're not going to do this now. I'm going to get you two, then we can talk." Gibbs ordered.

"I don't know..head hurts."

Gibbs cursed inwardly. "You don't have permission to be anything but okay, you got that?"

"Yes, boss." He just barley heard.

After a couple of seconds, he heard a different voice. "Bout time you two showed up."

"Glad to see not much has changed with you, DiNozzo." Gibbs said blandly while he was actually glad to hear Tony's sarcasm. "You okay?"

"My ankles broken and I think I have a few cracked ribs, plus I got some pretty nasty bruises but I'll live. It's McGee you should be more worried about." He confided in his old boss and mentor.

"What's wrong? He didn't sound too good." Gibbs questioned

"They keep going after his head, boss. At first it just seemed like his head killed and his vision was blurry, but now he's hallucinating." Tony said quietly.

"About what?" Gibbs asked worriedly.

"Well yesterday he was speaking techno babble to I'm guessing was supposed to be Abby and then he began giving Ziva English grammar lessons. Today though he..ah." Tony stopped.

"He what?" Gibbs demanded.

"I didn't know what he was saying for a while but then I could make out one sentence. He said: 'I'm sorry, Kate but I don't want to come.'" Tony said quietly. That was one thing that scared him the most.

"Make sure you keep telling him not to go with her! I'm on my way and you two both better be okay when I get there." Gibbs said trying to hide the panic in his voice.

"I will, Boss. Promise." Tony replied. He hoped he'd be able to keep it.

Azzan pulled the phone away from Tony and continued his own conversation with Gibbs. "Now that you know that they are alive, let's get back to why you are here."

"I know why." Gibbs said gruffly

"Alright then, you tell me." Azzan said cockily.

"You're pissed I killed, Ari and you want revenge." Gibbs said.

"Very good. I'm sure Ziva told you all about me. For some reason, I am feeling generous. Or maybe I just cannot wait to meet you in person but I'm going to tell you where we are." Azzan told him.

"Fine, where are you?" Gibbs said, knowing that it wouldn't be as easy as he was making it sound.

"We are at an old Mossad safe house. Ziva will know where it is. Goodbye." Azzan said before hanging up.

" Do you know where he's talking about?" Gibbs asked the woman standing next to him.

"Yes, there is a bunker under the house where he is probably holding them. I will drive." Ziva said as she grabbed the car keys and walked out the door, not even fazed by the fact that she was wearing an old t-shirt and sweatpants that she had changed into after her shower. She just needed to get to her friends.

Gibbs followed her as he checked to make sure both his SIG and .22 were fully loaded and that his knife was secured at his waist. He hoped that Ziva had her various knives and guns ready, they were going to need all the help that they could get. "We're coming boys, just hold on." Gibbs whispered before getting in the passenger side of their rental car.

**TBC…..**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note- Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I just got a new laptop so it took me some time to get it running and transfer my old files. Thanks for the patience and the reviews. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own anything…. Just a few Ari conspiracy theories. It's a lonely existence. **

After the phone call, Tony and Tim were once again left alone. Tony looked at Tim and saw an almost scary looking grin on his face. "What's going on Tim?" Tony asked like he was speaking to a child.

"Commander Voss." Tim said as he began hysterically.

Tony wracked his brain until he finally remembered. "That is not funny, Probie." He said sternly.

"Yes it was." Tim said, unable to stop. "Has Ziva ever heard that story?" he questioned.

"No and I'd like to keep it that way." Tony said again sternly and through gritted teeth.

"Too bad." Tim said and then turned his head so that he was facing an empty wall. "Hey Ziva, did I ever tell you about the time Tony made out with a transsexual?"

Tony heard no answer, but apparently Tim did because he spoke again. "No, I'm serious. He was so sure he was actually a woman. Right Tony?"

"Ziva's not here, Tim." Tony said in the gentlest way possible.

"What do you mean? She's right there." Tim jerked his head in the direction of the wall where he thought Ziva was. As he did so, his head exploded with pain and he screamed out.

Tony winced at the sound and watched in horror as Tim tried to fight the pain. He hated that he couldn't do anything to help. "Hang on, Tim. Gibbs is coming."

"How do you know?" Tim asked skeptically, he was done with all of the optimistic bullshit.

"He told me he was." Tony said. He wasn't going to let Tim give up now, when they were so close.

"He's not here, how could he have told you?" Tim asked. He was beginning to think that Tony was going crazy.

"On the phone." Tony said.

"When did this happen and how come I didn't get to talk to him?" Tim asked, whining like a five year old.

That's when Tony realized that Tim didn't even remember the phone call, even though it only happened a half an hour ago.

"Where are we, Tony?" Tim said. His voice trembled and it was obvious that he was very scared.

"It doesn't matter right now. Gibbs is coming for us, okay?" Tony asked desperately.

"Okay."

Silent tears began to fall down Tim's face. He wanted to believe Tony but he didn't even what was going on. If they were in any sort of trouble, which he figured they were, Gibbs would come and get them. He was sure of it.

Tony heard a gunshot from above them. He hoped that it wasn't Gibbs or Ziva who had been on the receiving end of the gun. More gunfire sounded for what seemed like forever but then it stopped and footsteps came running down the stairs. The door to their prison opened and revealed a panic stricken Ziva.

"Tony! McGee!" she yelled as she ran over to them and began untying.

"I have never been happier to see you, my beautiful, ninja assassin." Tony said as he stood up off the chair. He groaned in pain as he put pressure on his ankle. "Where's Gibbs?"

"He's upstairs. We were able to kill two men but we cannot find Azzan anywhere." Just as she said this, another shot rang out and they heard a voice that distinctly sounded like Gibb crying out.

Ziva grabbed her gun and pointed it at the stairwell. The next thing she saw was Gibbs falling down the stairs with blood pouring out of his leg. Just then, Azzan appeared behind him with a gun trained on Gibbs' head.

"Put the gun down, Ziva." Azzan said. The way he said it spooked Tony. He had never heard the man's voice so gentle.

"Not unless you do too." Ziva said sternly.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Ziva. You can still join me." Azzan told her.

"No Azzan." She told him.

"We are family. Ari was your brother and they destroyed him." Azzan said as he put the gun closer to Gibbs' head.

"They are my family now and they did not destroy him. My father did, just like he has done with you." Ziva said. She began walking closer to the two men.

Tony was surprised at the way Ziva was handling the situation. She was very calm as she tried to talk Azzan down. When they had first, the Mossad Officer wouldn't have hesitated to kill the man. Now, he wished for that back because he just wanted this guy dead so this would end.

"He was your brother!" Azzan cried. It was obvious to Gibbs, Tony and Ziva that he was beginning to really loose it. When this had started, it was organized but now it seemed as though Azzan was losing control of not just his mind, but also the situation itself.

"No he wasn't, and he hadn't been in a very long time." Ziva said. Sometimes it pained her but she knew it was the truth.

Apparently, this just angered Azzan further, so he put the gun directly on Gibbs' temple. Gibbs, for his part, didn't even flinch.

Ziva knew she was in a bad spot. If she shot him now, Gibbs was a dead man anyway. There was only one thing she could think to do now. "He didn't kill Ari, I did. If you're going to kill anyone, kill me." She said.

"No Ziver!" Gibbs yelled from the floor. He wasn't going to let her do this.

"Is this true?" Azzan asked, slowly taking the gun away from Gibbs and training it on Ziva.

"Ari was going to kill Gibbs, so I killed him first." Ziva said as tears formed in her eyes.

"Ziver!" Gibbs yelled again.

Azzan only saw Ziva then. He forgot about Gibbs on the floor, Tony on his chair or McGee who was unconscious and still tied down. He started to walk towards her. "You disgust me." He said.

"I know." Ziva said quietly.

"A person who would kill their own brother to save a perfect stranger. A stranger that you told me that you were going to get rid of, if Ari was unable to do it himself. That is why I wanted to go instead. I should have fought harder when Eli said you were going in my stead." Azzan said. Tony didn't know why Ziva hadn't just shot him yet. Then he realized why.

Gibbs had stood up while Ziva backed Azzan away from him. He now stood, although shakily behind their captor. If Ziva shot him now, the bullet would also rip through Gibbs.

"It needed to be me. I know that you and Ari were close but we needed to get into NCIS without killing everybody you came in contact with. I did not want to believe that he killed Agent Todd but I finally was able to realize just how much of a monster he had become. There was no other option but for him to die. These people saved me from becoming Ari. They saved me from becoming you." A small tear fell down her face. "I'm sorry Azzan."

With that, Gibbs stuck the knife that he had concealed at his waist, into Azzan's back. The man fell to his knees and then completely keeled over. He took one last breathe, and died.

Tony sighed with relief, it was finally over….

He couldn't have been more wrong.

**TBC…..**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note- Wow 2 chapters in 2 days! Bet you didn't see that coming! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything…**

Abby Scuito had always wanted to go to Spain. The sights, the culture, the people and the food. She wanted to experience it all. Now she was on a plane, thousands of miles above the Atlantic Ocean, making her way to Europe. The only thing wrong with this was picture was the fact that she wasn't going so she could immerse herself in the culture. She was going because Gibbs, her strong father figure, had a bullet in his leg, Tony, her older brother, had several broken ribs, a broken ankle, and a concussion, and Tim, her Timmy, the one that was always waiting in the wings, was seriously injured and maybe even dying.

With that thought, she began to cry once again. Ducky, who was seated next to her, reached over and took the younger woman in his arms. Even though Jethro had only a few details on Timothy's condition, he knew it was not good. He was very worried from the young agent but he knew with Gibbs not around he had to be Abby's strength.

Abby continued to cry but soon fell asleep, her dreams filled with her Timmy….

_Dream Sequence….._

"_I really like him, I do. But we both want different things and we're at different places in our lives. It would never work. That's why I have to end it." Abby said to her best friend during a much needed girls night in._

"_It'll be okay Abs. I'm sure he'll understand, he's a good guy. And maybe down the line sometime if you two end up in the same place at the right time, you'll be able to start again. But for now you should be glad to have him as a friend." Kate said reassuringly. _

_The next day Abby broke up with Tim. His eyes showed how hurt he was but he told her that he understood why she was doing this and that he'd hoped they would remain friends. Abby's heart broke a little as she watched him walk the other way. Had she made the right choice?_

"_I'm really going to miss her, Tim." Abby whispered to the man sitting next to her on the plane home from Indiana after Kate's funeral._

"_Me too, Abs." Tim whispered back._

"_I just feel like there's more to the story. The funeral was supposed to closer but I still can't fully accept it." Abby confided in him._

"_Maybe there are things that we'll never truly know but there is one thing that we do know." Tim told her._

"_What's that?" she asked._

"_No matter what happens in life and no matter where we go, Kate will always be watching and protecting us. That's the only thing that matters. We have to continue to live in her memory." Tim told her._

"_You're right. Thank you, Timmy." Abby said softly._

"_Anytime Abs. And know that I'll always be here for you. I promise." Tim assured her._

_Abby smiled as she fell asleep on Tim's shoulder. Sometimes he knew exactly what she needed. That flight was the first restful sleep that she had gotten in days._

"_You're mad?" Tim asked sheepishly over the phone._

"_Of course I'm mad, McGee! You left us. You left me." Abby cried back. She had called him the day after they had landed in Spain and immediately laid into him._

"_I'm sorry Abs but I needed to do this." Tim said. He had been dreading this phone call and he had to admit that it had come later than he thought it would. _

"_You promised that you'd always be here. You promised!" said Abby as the tears began to fall down her face. _

"_Just because I'm in Spain doesn't mean that I won't be there. Even if I can't be there in person, you can still call me any time of day. Even if it's just to say 'hey'." He told her. _

"_I know and I know that this was a big opportunity for you and Tony, it's just that you're my best friend and I'm really, really going to miss you." Abby admitted._

"_I'm really, really going to miss you too, Abs." Tim said. It was the truth. Leaving her behind was one of the toughest tings that he had ever done._

"_Are you sure you guys are doing okay? Are you eating? Are you sleeping enough?" Abby questioned Tim late one night. They did this a lot; she would go home after work, get into her pajamas, stretch out on her coffin bed and call Tim._

"_We're fine Abs. We eat plenty and we are getting enough sleep." He said simply answering her questions. He was already at work but he knew Tony wouldn't mind. And if he did, he'd have to face Abby himself._

"_Good." Abby said. There was silence on the line before Abby's quiet voice started again. "I miss you, Timmy. When are you going to come and visit?" she asked._

"_I'm not sure, Abs. We've been working nonstop for the last six months so hopefully the director will give us some time off soon." Tim told her._

"_I hope so too. I need my boys." Abby said._

"_I know Abs, I know." Tim sighed. He needed her just as much, if not more._

_That was the last time they spoke…._

_End Dream Sequence…_

Abby was still emotional from the dream she had on the plane but now she started to feel some major amounts of anxiety. She and Ducky made their ways down the foreign hospital corridor, looking for the ICU.

They finally made it to a clearing and saw Gibbs standing there with a wrapped leg and crutches. Ducky was the first to speak. "Is it really wise for you to be up and about, Jethro? You've just been shot." The doctor scolded.

"I'm fine, Duck. The bullet went through and through and didn't hit anything major. Besides I have more important things to worry about right now." Gibbs said as he led them down another hallway.

"How are the boys?" Ducky asked. Abby was being uncharacteristically quiet as she just listened to what Gibbs had to say.

"Tony's going to be fine. Just a few weeks of physical therapy and he'll be as good as new. But Tim…. I don't know if he's going to make it Duck. I just don't know." Gibbs sighed. He opened the door to a room, Abby looked in and gasped. She wasn't ready for that.

**TBC…..**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer- I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.**

Tim McGee didn't know where he was. It looked like some sort of park but he didn't recognize it from anywhere. It was bright and sunny and child's laughter sounded in the background. For some reason, even though he should be worried that he didn't know his location, he felt at peace. "It's weird isn't it?" a female voice.

"What?" Tim said without turning around, he knew who it was.

"You think you should be afraid but you just can't bring yourself to be so." The woman said as she walked around him so that she was now standing in front of him. "Hello, Tim"

"Hey, Kate." He said softly. He had mixed feelings about seeing her. On one hand he was happy to see her but on the other hand the fact that he was seeing her only one thing. "Am I dead?"

"Not exactly." Kate said as she led him to a bench and sat down.

"What does that mean?" Tim asked skeptically.

"As of right now, it's unclear now what your fate will be." Kate said cryptically.

"You sound like something out of a really bad movie." Tim said.

"Yes well I'm sure Tony would be proud." Kate teased. "What I'm really trying to say is that it hasn't been decided yet whether or not you're going to live or die. Currently you're at a hospital in Spain." She explained.

"So Gibbs saved us?" Tim asked hopefully.

"Well for you, it's too soon to tell if he got there in time but Tony's going to be okay." She told him.

Tim felt relief when she said the last part. "I'm glad Tony's going to be okay." He said as he sat down on a bench and Kate sat with him.

"They're all very worried about you Tim. Tony won't leave your bed side, Abby's a mess and Ducky chases your doctor down every hour for updates. But Gibbs just sits in front of your room, looking through a window and silently blames himself." Kate informed him.

"It's not his fault." Tim said frustrated. "It was my decision to go there but we couldn't have known that one of Ari's crazy friends was waiting for us."

"Sorry about that by the way." Kate said.

"What would you have to be sorry for?" Tim asked extremely confused.

"I should have just stabbed Ari in autopsy when I had a chance. I wouldn't have died and you and Tony wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble." Kate said.

"Right because that you would have known then that he would have ultimately caused your death in another year and a half and then his best friend would come back for revenge on us two years after that." Tim said sarcastically but then went back to being serious. "It's not your fault Kate. What's done is done."

"I'm the one that is supposed to be cheering you up here not the other way around." Kate smiled.

"Is that why you're here?" Tim asked.

"Yep, orders from the big man. I'm supposed to keep you company. By the way your mom says hi." Kate said.

"You met my mom?" Tim asked shyly.

"I have. And I've met Tony's mom and Shannon and Kelly." Kate explained. "You know that's something you and Gibbs have in common."

"What do you mean?" Tim said not following.

"You both never said anything of having somebody so close to you being murdered." Kate said quietly.

"Oh yeah…well." Tim stammered.

"How come you never told anybody that your mother was murdered, in front of you, when you were only six?" Kate asked him.

"I don't know." Tim said half-heartedly. Kate gave him a knowing look and he told her the truth. "I was the new guy and I really just wanted to fit in with you guys. The last thing I needed was you guys think I was traumatized or something."

"We wouldn't have thought that, Tim." He shot her a doubting look. "Okay fine maybe we would have but you still should have told us. I think we were under the impression that you had the perfect family life. In all reality your mom was dead, your dad got re-married and well I guess the only way to explain it is he forgot about you. Is that why you got so upset with Gibbs? Because he was just like your dad." Kate surmised. Tim wouldn't look at her so she knew she was right on the money.

"Did you just profile me?" Tim said laughing a little.

"Well it is what I do. I guess only now I see what kind of person you really are beyond the nervous Probie that I knew when I was alive. I just wish I was around to see you grow into the agent that you are now in person." Kate said. Over the last few years, Kate had spent most of her after life watching over the team. They had all changed in different ways but out of all of them, Tim definitely changed the most.

"I wish you were there too." Tim said quietly. "I really could have used you a couple of times. Sometimes I would even pick up the phone to call you but then realize that you weren't going to answer. Then I would just get pissed at Ari for taking you away from us." Tim admitted.

"I was angry for a while too. Then I realized that something good came out of all of this." Kate told him.

"Like what?" Tim asked curiously.

"Well we all know that the person Ari became was a direct result of his father's treatment of him. If Ziva hadn't come to NCIS, she probably would have become just like Ari. And I have got to admit she's very good with putting up with Tony." Kate joked.

"Yeah she is." Tim agreed. "Thanks for being here with me Kate."

"I'm always there for you Tim. You just can't see me." She said smiling.

~NCIS~

Tony sat in the hospital room staring at his injured brother. He looked so small and pale lying in the bed surrounded by all of the machines that were plugged into him in one way or another. He never left Tim alone. Only when he had to go to physical therapy he left Tim's bedside. And even then he made sure Ziva or Abby were with him.

Gibbs on the other hand hadn't even stepped into the room. He just sat in the hall drinking coffee. It made Tony angry. He thought Gibbs wanted to make amends with Tim. Not staying with him and giving him support as he fought for his life, was not a good start. Tony realized that Gibbs was guilty but he also thought he should get over himself.

"Anthony, my dear boy, you should eat something." Ducky said from the door of Tim's bedroom.

"I'm not hungry Ducky, but thanks." Tony said without taking his eyes off of his fallen friend.

"You are never hungry." Ducky pointed out. It was the same excuse he always got. "If you don't eat enough you'll be readmitted to the hospital and you will be no help to Timothy at all." Ducky warned.

"I know Ducky and I promise I'll eat something. I just feel like if I leave, something's going to happen to him." Tony admitted.

"He is being very well taken care of. And with the additional support from us, Abigail, Ziva and Jethro…" Ducky said but Tony cut him off.

"Gibbs isn't doing anything but take up space." Tony growled.

"He does care about Timothy." Ducky said defending his friend.

"Well if he cares so damn much, why isn't in here." Tony hissed quietly.

"You know how he is, Anthony. He has his own way of dealing with things." Ducky pointed out.

"Well right now he should be less worried about what he's comfortable with and come in here and support Tim." Tony said, clearly done with the conversation.

Ducky sighed and retreated to the hallway. The last thing they all needed was Tony and Gibbs at each other's throats. Abby was constantly hysterical, he was pretty sure that Ziva was going to kill somebody soon and he was busy calming them all down and screening calls from Jimmy who was left in charge of autopsy for the deration. He sat down in the hallway.

Out of nowhere Gibbs sat down next to him and let out a long sigh. "I just got off of the phone with Jenny." He told the elderly ME.

"What did she have to say?" Ducky asked, putting his conversation with Tony on the back burner for now.

"She contacted Tim's father." Gibbs said.

"Is he coming?" Ducky said thinking that it would be good to have the boy's father there to help his son.

"Nope. He told Jenny that, and I quote 'He deserves it for being such a disappointment.'" Gibbs told Ducky. "How could a person say that to their own kid?" he wondered aloud.

"Some people just aren't fit to be parents." Ducky concluded, taking back his previous thoughts. "I guess all the boy ever really wanted was someone to be proud of him." He said.

"Is that your not so subtle way of telling me that I have to go in there and make sure that he comes out of this okay?" Gibbs questions. He knew that is what he should do but he wasn't sure.

"You need to, Jethro. You owe it to him to be there." Ducky told him.

Gibbs sighed and got and walked over to the door. He took a deep breath. This was going to be tough.

**TBC….**

**Author's Note- Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know the whole 'seeing Kate as your life is in danger' is a bit overdone but I felt I must. The next few chapters will be a lot of the team becoming stronger. I feel like the only things people are writing recently are about the members being horrible to each other so I decided to do the opposite. Sue Me… Please read and review.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note- Here's chapter 12! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.**

Gibbs walked silently into the hospital room. Tony could feel the presence behind him and automatically knew who it was. He tensed when the man got closer. "How is he?" Gibbs asked.

"The same." Tony said simply, not wanting to speak.

Gibbs sighed and realized that Tony wasn't exactly happy with him. He couldn't blame him though; he hadn't been as supportive as he should have been. "Tony-"Gibbs began but the younger man cut him off.

"I can take care of my own team." Tony said sternly, not wanting to hear whet Gibbs had to say.

He had to admit, that had hurt a lot but he wasn't going to let DiNozzo get to him. He wouldn't just give up on them. So he put on his best glare and stepped in front of Tony so that he was looking him dead in the eye. "Just because you and Tim aren't on my team anymore doesn't mean that I'm going to just forget about you both. I know you can take care of your team but there will be no harm in having us here." Gibbs told him.

Tony collapsed back into his chair, defeated. Gibbs sat down next to him in another chair. He knew this was his opening. "Talk to me." Gibbs said quietly.

Tony looked at him with a look that Gibbs had never seen on the man's face in all the years they had worked together. He looked truly and utterly defeated, and he wasn't even trying to hide it. "I can't lose him, Boss." It was so quiet that Gibbs almost didn't hear it.

"I know." Gibbs answered him.

"No, you don't." Tony said as he got up once again and walked towards the large window on the other side of the room. Gibbs didn't follow him but knew that he would speak again. "He's the best friend I have had in my life, Gibbs. I wasn't exactly liked in boarding school, in college all my frat brothers wanted to do was party and none of them were any good to talk to, and before NCIS I moved around so much that I never really got close to anyone. I know it may sound girly and weak but it's the truth, I need him." He admitted.

"It's not weak to need somebody like that in your life, Tony. And I know that he feels the same way." Gibbs assured him.

"I just hope that I get a chance to actually tell him how much he means to me." Tony said.

"You will. He doesn't have permission to die." Gibbs said addressing Tim's prone body as well as Tony.

~NCIS~

_Dream Sequence…_

_Gibbs looked around at where he was. He wasn't familiar with his surroundings but it appeared to be a school. There were kids playing all around the school yard but none of them seemed to realize that he was there. His feet began to move to a corner of the yard. It was like he wasn't in control of where he was going._

_He found himself standing behind a young boy who was doing math problems that seemed extremely advanced for his age. Looking at the top of the page he wasn't shocked to see the name Tim McGee printed neatly on the first line. "He was a very smart little boy. Still is actually. Just not as little." A female voice said from behind him._

_Gibbs turned around to see Shannon standing there. He was used to seeing her in his dreams but he didn't understand why she was in this particular one. "What are you doing here?" he asked._

"_Well I'm the only person that you listen too…well most of the time at least." Shannon joked._

"_Why am I here?" Gibbs asked, ignoring the obvious dig._

"_You need to see something." She said gesturing back to the young Tim. _

_Gibbs looked back down at the boy and realized there were small wet marks on the piece of paper. Gibbs looked back at Shannon and asked: "Why is he crying?"_

"_Ever since his mother died, he closed off from the rest of the world. All the other kids treated him like he was shards of glass and that if they got to close to him they would get cut. Unfortunately, that's how his own father treated him. When his father got remarried and had another child, it was almost like he didn't exist anymore." Shannon explained. _

"_I knew him and his father didn't get along but I thought it was only because Tim didn't want to go into the Navy." Gibbs said._

"_It started long before that but you're right too. When he graduated high school, his father asked him if he was going to go to the Naval Academy and when he said no, his father basically told him to leave and never come back. He was only sixteen at the time." She told him._

"_Jeez, the poor kid." Gibbs said sympathetically as he looked down at the boy who had by then composed himself._

"_He needed a father figure just as badly as Tony and Ziva did." Shannon pointed out._

"_I know I screwed up with him. It's just that…" He trailed off but Shannon finished his thought for him._

"_He reminds you of Kelly." Shannon said knowingly. The look on her husband's face told her that she was correct. "They were both incredibly smart at a young age; they were so kind and so trusting. They both also feel the incredible need to tell you how they exactly did things. "_

"_Yeah." Gibbs said softly. There was more than one occasion that he got mad at Tim just for the simple fact that he did something that reminded him of his late daughter. He would end up yelling at the unsuspecting kid and see the confusion and hurt in his eyes. _

"_Well you're lucky you're getting a second chance." Shannon said._

_Gibbs turned around again to face her. "What?" he asked._

"_Don't blow it this time." The beautiful woman said as she began to fade away, along with the rest of her surroundings._

…_._

Gibbs was startled awake by the sudden hustle in the room. He had fallen asleep in a chair in the corner of Tim's room and was now in a great deal of pain from the uncomfortable chair. He looked around and saw Tony standing at the bottom of the bed. "Tony, what's going on?" he asked worriedly as the younger agent kept his eyes trained on the doctors and nurses.

Tony turned and faced Gibbs. "He's awake, Boss. He's finally awake."

**TBC….**

**Author's Note- You guys didn't really think I would kill poor Timmy off without him making up with Gibbs, did you?" I'm not that heartless. Hope you liked it. There will be more of Ziva and Abby in the next chapter. As always, reviews are appreciated.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer- I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.**

One of the doctors that were fluttering around Tim's bed, Dr. Martinez pulled Tony and Gibbs out of the room to update them on Tim's condition. He could tell that the two men were relieved that their friend had finally woken up. While it was certainly good news, there was still bad news that went along with it. "Agent McGee is awake and lucid and it seems that there is no permanent damage to his brain." The man told them with a thick Spanish accent.

"Why do I sense a but coming on?" Gibbs asked.

"It seems that he has sustained some memory loss." He told them.

Tony cursed inwardly. "How much did he forget?" he asked.

"Well he doesn't remember the events that led him to being hospitalized. The last thing he remembers was Christmas-"the doctor started to say but Tony cut him off.

"Well that's okay. Christmas was only few months ago." Tony said reassured. He looked at Gibbs to see how he was reacting but was only faced with a glare, probably for not taking the situation as seriously as he should. "What? A couple of months are nothing compared to fifteen years, Boss."

Dr. Martinez spoke again before the two men could get into it. "If you had let me finish." He said clearing his throat, regaining the attention of the two men. "The last thing he remembers was Christmas of 2004."

Tony was shocked. Even though it still wasn't fifteen years, a lot of things had changed since 2004. Things that were going to be hard for Tim to hear again. Gibbs' thinking was very similar to Tony's, only he could relate to the kid. Waking up and realizing your life had skipped a few years wasn't an easy thing. "Can we see him now?" Gibbs asked, watching as the nurses started coming out of Tim's room.

"Yes. It's very important that people that he knew in the time he last remembers be with him now. You did know him then, correct?" the doctor asked.

"Yes we did. Is there anything that we should refrain from doing?" Gibbs asked.

"You should only tell him things in small doses. Too much information at once could serve to worsen his condition." Martinez told them.

"Thank you, Doctor." Tony said before he and Gibbs went back into the room.

Tim looked up when he heard the door open and saw familiar faces. "Tony. Boss. What happened?" he asked immediately.

"Tim." Was all Gibbs was able to get out before the other agent was able to cut him off.

"Tim? You never call me Tim. Something really bad must have happened." He said confused and curious.

At the man's confusion over hearing him be called by his given name, Gibbs realized that the first time he had used it was right after Kate died. Right now, Tim didn't even know that Kate had died. Luckily Tony covered for him. "Well you pretty banged up, Probie. You had us all worried."

Tim blushed at the older man's concern. Then he remembered the doctors telling him that he hadn't answered the question 'What year is it?' correctly. "What year is it?" he asked worriedly. For all he knew, it wasn't as bad as he thought and he had only been out for a couple weeks and had missed New Year's.

"It's June 2007." Tony told him and watched the panic become evident on Tim's face. He walked over and sat on the side of the bed and began to calm him down. "It's going to be alright, Tim. We're going to help you through this." He said soothingly.

Tony's actions were almost as troubling as the fact that he couldn't remember the last three years. "Why are you being so nice to me? It's creepy." Tim said.

Tony smiled. "Well, McGoo, you and I have actually become quite close in the last few years." Tony said in a joking voice. He hoped joking and using his favorite McNickname would ease a little of McGee's worry.

"Oh, what else have I missed?" McGee asked curiously.

Before an answer came, the door opened again and before he knew it, he was on the receiving end of a crushing hug with his favorite Goth. "Hey Abs." he said, happy that some things hadn't changed.

"Oh Timmy! I'm so glad you're okay. I was so happy when your doctor told us you were awake." Abby said with her arms still wrapped tightly around Tim.

Ducky came over as Abby got up, looking over the chart. "Hey Ducky." Tim said to the ME.

'It's very good to see you awake , Timothy. We were very worried." He replied.

"Yeah Tony told me." Tim answered. He looked over to the end of his bed and realized there was another woman in the room. Not the woman he had been expecting. "Who are you?" Tim asked addressing the woman.

Ziva was confused at Tim's statement. Why didn't McGee know who she was? Before she said anything, Ducky spoke. "Oh dear, I see you've been experiencing trouble with your memory, Timothy."

Tim ignored Ducky and kept looking at the woman. Then he turned his head to where Tony was standing. "Who is she? Where's Kate?" Tim asked.

The whole room went quiet but Tim didn't like that they answer him. "Where's Kate?" he asked again, his panic returning. "Did something happen to her? Where is she?"

Tony was the first to say anything. He decided that he was going to be the one to take care of this, alone. "Okay, everybody out. I got this one."

Gibbs wanted to protest but realized that it was better for Tony to take the lead on this one. He eyed everyone else and they left without protest, not wanting to anger Gibbs. In truth none of them wanted to be there for this anyways.

Once they were all gone, Tony sat back down at the side of the bed. "Okay, Probie. I'm going to explain this all to you but let me finish before you say anything. Got it?" Tony said.

Tim nodded his head. :Okay. Just tell me what's going on.?"

**TBC…**

**Author's Note- Cliff Hanger! What will happen? I guess you'll just have to wait and see. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are appreciated.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note- Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. Reviews are appreciated.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.**

Tim stared at Tony in shock. He couldn't believe it or maybe he just didn't want to believe it. It couldn't have been true. Tony couldn't have been telling the truth. But then again Tony wouldn't lie to him, well about something like this at least. "No." he said. "Kate can't be dead."

Tony sighed. "I'm sorry, Probie, but she is. I was there when it happened and it's something that I will never un-see." Tony said in a small voice. When he thought about it, it was almost like he could feel her blood sprayed on his face.

Tim saw the despair in the other man's face and knew that it was really true. "What happened?" he asked even though it wasn't hard to figure out. Every time they walked out the door there was a possibility that one of them wouldn't be returning. Adding that with the fact that Kate was extremely healthy, it was obvious that she died in the line of duty.

"She was murdered." Tony told him.

"Who? And please tell me Gibbs got the bastard." He may have not been on the team that long, or maybe he had, but from what he knew already there was no way Gibbs had just let this go.

"Ari." Tony told him.

The mention of the name made memories flood his mind. He remembered crouching behind a car as bullets whizzed by his head. When they stopped, he could hear a voice coming through his earwig. It was Kate, saying something about Tony when suddenly a shot rang out and everything went silent. He remembered being back at NCIS and Gibbs being overly nice, him and Abby trying to track down Ducky and Gerald, and the exotic woman who was dead set on Ari's innocence. Most of all he remembered the bastard finally being dead and going to Kate's funeral.

Tony figured by the look on Tim's face that he was remembering something. His eyes looked glazed over but they were also darting back and forth. Sure enough, the next thing out of McGee's mouth was: "I remember."

"Well I guess that's progress." Tony said.

"And that woman here earlier, wasn't she the Mossad agent you were tailing?" Tim asked confused. Why would she be there now? Surely she hadn't taken Kate's place on the team.

"Yeah, that's Ziva. She's the Mossad liaison officer to NCIS now." Tony told him. It was a lot for Tim to digest and Tony knew it, so he decided that they were done for now. "You got to get some rest. We can talk more later."

"Okay. Thanks Tony." Tim said distractedly. He still couldn't get Kate off of his mind. It was like he was grieving for her all over again.

"Anytime, Tim, anytime." Tony said as he walked out of the room, leaving Tim alone with his thoughts.

Gibbs met Tony in the hallway. Tony was amazed at the fact that he had gotten rid of everyone else but he guessed if anyone could have done it, it would be Gibbs. "How is he?" the older man asked when he saw Tony.

"He knows about Kate." Tony told him, knowing that was what Gibbs was really asking.

"How'd he take it?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm not sure. I think he's still kind of letting it sink in. I could tell that he began to remember. It looked like he was trying to keep up with a bunch of movie cuts." Tony said, remembering the weird expressions that were on his friend's face.

"I know what you mean." Gibbs said sympathetically. "Anything else?"

"Well he remembers Ziva. Sort of anyways." Tony told him.

"What do you mean by 'sort of'?" Gibbs questioned.

"Well he remembers the old her. He one that came here and was hell bent on killing you in order to save Ari." Tony explained further.

"He'll get there in time." Gibbs reassured.

The two men sat in the chairs in the hallway in comfortable silence for a while. Both men were reflecting on the day's events and both hoping that Tim's memory would return soon. Tony was also pondering what was going to happen to them after this. Would they stay in Spain? Go back stateside? They were all running through his head making him dizzy when he stopped and decided that the best thing to do was focusing on getting McGee better and then start worrying about the future.

Gibbs tried to think of something that would help Tim remember. He thought that maybe there was something that would help it all come back. Something like what Ziva had did for him when he couldn't remember his own team.

As they both sat there, Ziva came around the corner and rejoined them. She was still feeling a little insecure about earlier. She knew that it wasn't Tim's fault that he could not remember her but it still didn't feel good when the first person that befriended her at NCIS had forgotten her. She also felt guilty, and had been for a while. She felt that this whole thing was her fault in the first place but she felt worse about underestimating Tim. It took seeing him like she did after Azzan had done what he had to realize that the man was a lot stronger then she had originally thought.

Gibbs was the first one to notice Ziva's presence. She stood awkwardly by them, almost like she didn't belong. "I thought I told you and Abby to go get some rest, Ziver." He said using her nickname in hopes that it would make her realize that she did in fact belong there.

"I know but I thought of something." She told them.

"What?" Gibbs asked.

Ziva pulled out a book from behind her back. "I figured that it would better for McGee to remember from his own views on things rather than us telling him." She said.

It was then that Tony realized that she was holding a copy of _Deep Six_ in her hand. "How'd you come up with that?" he asked.

Ziva was hoping that he wouldn't ask that question because she didn't want to admit that she had used a movie to come up with the idea. "I got it from that movie with the woman that lost her memory everyday so she wrote a journal so that she remembered the man that she loved." She told them.

Tony grinned. "_50 First Dates, _Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. That was a good one. It seems that I have rubbed off on you, Ziva." He said cockily.

"Shut it, DiNozzo." She growled. The turned back to Gibbs. "We should have him read this and then fill in any blanks when he is done."

"That's good work, Ziver." Gibbs told her. "Why don't you go give it to him."

Ziva hesitated. "I do not know. Maybe one of you should give it to him."

"No, Ziva. You should. It's fine." Tony encouraged.

She looked at Gibbs and when he silently agreed with a nod of his head in the direction of the room, she took a deep breath and entered.

Tim looked up and was surprised to see Ziva enter the room, shyly. He was still wary of her but there was something about her presence that calmed him. "Hello, Ziva." He said.

"McGee." She said. "I just wanted to give you this." She gave him the book and he looked at it oddly.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's a book. If you read it, it might help you remember." She told him.

"Okay." He said skeptically.

"I know you probably do not have a reason to, but trust me. I promise it will help." She said, sensing his hesitation.

Tim didn't know why but he felt that he should trust her so he nodded his head and said: "I will. Thank you, Ziva."

Ziva smiled softly. " You are welcome, Tim. Goodnight." She said before exiting the room again.

Tim looked down at the book. _Deep Six _by Thom E. Gemcity. There was something oddly familiar about the book. He took a deep breath, opened the book and began reading it.

**TBC…..**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer- I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.**

It was 0800 the next morning when Gibbs found himself outside of Tim's room. If he knew McGee like he wanted to think he did, he had already finished the book. By now he probably remembered most of what he had forgotten. That is what scared him the most, if he was truly honest with himself. Sure he wanted Tim to get his memory back but he was worried about facing the Tim who remembered just how much of an ass his former boss was.

Gibbs took a deep breath and went in. Tim was sound asleep with the book hanging limply from his hand. Gibb walked quietly over to the side of the bed and took the book out of his hand. He sat down on the chair and just watched the young man sleep peacefully without looking so deathly pale.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there when Tim began to stir. He opened his eyes and looked at his boss. Suddenly feeling embarrassed that Gibbs was seeing him like he was, he immediately sat up straight. "Ah, hey boss."

"Hey, Tim. How you feeling?" Gibbs asked noticing the kid's nervousness in his presence. He hadn't seen him this nervous in a while.

"I'm good, Boss, thanks." Tim said quietly, thinking about everything he had read in the book last night.

"Did that book answer your questions?" Gibbs said curiously. He could tell that's what Tim was thinking about because his eyes kept darting back towards the table that he had put the book on.

"Um, some." Said Tim quietly not really wanting to talk about what he had remembered.

It didn't take long reading the book for Tim's memories to come back to him. At first it was just things that pertained to the book itself: writing it, publishing it, the first time somebody asked him to sign a copy for them and Tony finding out about it. After a while he began to remember the actual cases that the story was based on. He remembered befriending Ziva and getting to know her better. The he realized something. The memory of Tony finding out about the book wasn't in D.C. In fact he was pretty sure they weren't even in the US. Were they on an assignment? No matter what he did, he couldn't remember.

Gibbs sighed. "Talk to me Tim."

McGee hesitated. He didn't know if this was a good idea but maybe Gibbs was exactly the person he needed to talk to right then. He did after all; know everything and he himself had been through the same thing. "It's just that it's frustrating as hell. I keep getting flashes of people and places I don't know." He admitted.

Gibbs nodded. "I know. It takes time but I'm sure you'll remember it all in time." Gibbs told him. "What do you remember?"

"Pretty much everything up until…" He trailed off.

"What?" Gibbs asked.

Tim sighed. "I remember you leaving and then it's all blank." Tim admitted.

That wasn't good for Gibbs. Considering that was when Tim had started to think less of him, it meant that it was only a matter of time before he started to hate him again. He didn't know what to say that would stop this so he simply said: "Well I came back."

Tim nodded. "I figured. You wouldn't have been here if you weren't back." Tim said, almost sadly. A year ago Gibbs wouldn't have been able to catch onto it, but he did this time.

"I would have come back for this." Gibbs said in a completely serious tone. McGee might not have realized it back then, but if something like this happened to him while Gibbs was still in Mexico, he would have been on the first red eye flight to DC.

Tim wanted to believe him, he did, but there was something that was nagging at him telling him not to. It was a weird feeling for him because it was the first time that he didn't one hundred percent believes in something Gibbs had told him. Multiple questions floated around in his head. Why don't I believe him? Does this have something to do with his memories about him and Tony in a place he didn't remember? Did Tony get his own team after Gibbs came back? Did he go with him?

Suddenly Tim felt really dizzy from all of the thinking he was doing. He also only got about two hours of sleep the night before. All he wanted to do was get some sleep. "I'm tired, Boss. I'm gonna go back to sleep." He said as he lied back down.

Gibbs took the hint and got up to make his retreat. "Alright, get some rest. We'll talk later." He said as he left. Tim wasn't so sure he wanted to talk later.

Outside, Tony and Abby were waiting for him. They both ran right over to him. "So, did it work? Does Timmy remember yet?" Abby asked.

"Some things." Gibbs told them. "But there are still some gaps."

"That's really great, Boss." Tony said. "How's he handling it?"

Gibbs sighed. He might as well tell him. "He won't tell me." He admitted.

"Why?" Abby asked.

"Because he doesn't trust me." He told them.

"That's crazy. Why wouldn't he trust you?" Abby said, confused.

"He doesn't know why, he just doesn't. I've been there." Gibbs said.

"Then if he doesn't trust you, who will he?" Tony asked.

Gibbs looked him dead in the eye. "He'll trust you, Tony. You're probably the only one at the moment." He said and then began to walk down the hallway.

"Where you going, Boss?" Tony shouted after him.

"Back to the hotel. Call if you need anything." He yelled back before disappearing around the corner.

Tony and Abby watched after him and then looked at each other. Both had a look of confusion in their eyes. "Everything will be alright, Tony. You have to believe that." Abby said seeing the worry written all over Tony's face.

"I sure hope your right, Abs." Tony sighed and sat down.

**TBC….**

**Author's Note- Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy. There's probably about four or five to go. And then I'm starting to see a sequel sometime after New Year's. Reviews are appreciated as always.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note- Sorry for the wait. It took me a while to get this out. It's not my best chapter but I promise the next one will be the one you've all been waiting for.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.**

The next time Tim woke up, he felt an uncomfortable pressure on his right side. For a second he panicked, thinking something was wrong. That is until he looked down to find a sleeping Goth molded into his side with her head on his chest. He smiled at the way her dark hair was sprayed all over her face. He moved his left hand and gently brushed her hair behind her ears. Tim would never admit it, but he always liked Abby's hair better down and flowing past her shoulders.

As Tim lightly brushed his fingers across her face, Abby stirred and woke. She looked up at Tim with bleary eyes and smiled at him. "Hey, Timmy." She said softly.

He smiled back at her. "Hey, Abs. How long have you been out?" he asked her.

She looked at the clock on the other side of the room before answering him. "About three hours. I came into check on you after Gibbs left and you looked so peaceful and cuddly that I couldn't resist. You are my favorite teddy bear, of course."

Tim laughed, hugged her tightly and kissed softly on the top of her head. "I missed you, Abs." he whispered.

Abby looked up at him. "You remember?" she asked, hoping that he did.

"I don't remember what happened to land me here, but I remember leaving with Tony and going to Spain." He said sighing. He then looked down to her again. "And I remember missing you a lot."

Abby was about to answer him but the door opened and she jumped off the bed. Ziva smiled as she entered, as it was obvious that she had just walked in on something. "Hello, Abby. McGee." She said hesitantly. Gibbs told her that Tim remembered her but she was still a little nervous after their last meeting.

"Hey, Ziva." Tim said kind or awkwardly. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, McGee." She said. She should have known that he'd believe that not remembering would be his fault. He always blamed himself, even when he had absolutely no control over a situation.

The door opened again to reveal Tony. He smiled at the group and walked closer to the bed. "Glad to see you're finally up, McSleepingBeauty. I came by to visit earlier and you had already went back to sleep." Tony said jokingly.

"Sorry to inconvenience you because I'm sure you have plenty to do." Tim answered sarcastically. A palpable tension began to make its way into the room and Tim sent Abby a look that she was able to read instantly.

"Come in, Ziva. Let's go get some lunch." Abby grabbed Ziva's hand and began to pull her out of the room. Ziva was going to protest but after seeing the way Tim and Tony were looking at each other, she decided to go willingly.

When the girls were gone, Tony sat in the chair closest to McGee's bed and sat down. McGee looked at Tony and decided to ask what he had wanted to. "What happened to us?"

Tony let out a breath and then went into the story of how Azzan had kidnapped and tortured them. After he was done, McGee stayed silent for a while as he took in all that Tony had said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm a lot tougher then you." Tony said joking to relieve some of the tension.

Tim just laughed and then remembered something. "How are Sam and Rebecca?" he asked.

"They're fine. Sam transferred to the FBI and Rebecca went to a different team." Tony told him.

"Guess they couldn't handle you." Tim said with a smirk.

"Tim, you're the longest partner I've ever had and you're the only one who's been able to handle it." Tony said in all seriousness.

"Yeah I guess so." Tim sighed. "What's going to happen to us?"

"Well as soon as you're cleared to fly, which should be in a week or so, we'll head back to the states and Jenny said we'll discuss our options. That means she'll probably send us to psychologists for the next couple of months." Tony told him.

"I can't wait to get out of here." Tim said. "I've been awake for less than twenty four hours and I'm already getting bored." He complained.

"You're getting bored?" Tony asked incredulously. "We've been waiting around this place for a month waiting for you to wake up." It had started off as a joke but as Tony kept talking the worry he had over the last month had made itself known.

"I'm fine, Tony." Tim reassured him, knowing that it wasn't something Tony wanted to talk about just yet. All he needed for now was assurance.

"You're not exactly fine." Tony began again. "You won't be totally fine until you talk with Gibbs."

"I don't know Tony…" Tim said unsure of himself. He was still worried about what might come of his conversation with the older agent would be like; especially after the awkwardness of the conversation they had had earlier.

"No, Tim, you have to talk to him. You can't back out of this now. He's already beating himself enough about this. Abby said that ever since we left he's been pushing everyone else away and when she tries to talk to him about what happens he gets a really sad look in his eyes." Tony explained to him.

Guilt washed over McGee. He had no idea that he had caused so much trouble by confronting Gibbs before they left. "I'll talk to him the next time he comes in here, if he comes in here again." Tim said. He was worried that Gibbs wouldn't want to make amends at this point.

"He'll come, don't worry about that." Tony said. "Now, I'm going to see where the girls are. Do you want anything from the cafeteria?"

"Can you get me some yogurt; the doctor said I should only eat soft foods for now." Tim answered him.

"Done. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." Tony said and then left for the cafeteria. When he was making his way back to Tim's room, he saw Gibbs pacing outside of the room. "You know you can go in, Gibbs." Tony said approaching him.

Gibbs turned around and looked at Tony walking towards him. "Not that simple, DiNozzo." Gibbs said sighing.

"Yes it is, Gibbs. He remembers everything now and he wants to talk to you." Tony said as he reached him. He gave Gibbs the cup of yogurt he was holding. "Get him to eat this and then talk to him." Tony then retreated down the hallway to give the two men some needed space and to make sure Ziva and Abby don't go in.

Gibbs knew he had to do it. It wasn't going to be eays but it had to be done.

**TBC…**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note- Sorry for the wait. In light of recent anonymous reviews, I'd like to assure you guys that this story will be finished, in this chapter actually. I haven't been able to update constantly because of school. I'm only a sophomore in high school so I have mounds of homework every night. I was going to update it earlier in the week but things have been very crazy. One of the kids in my grade thought it would be funny to light trashcan fires every day this week. They ended up arresting him but it was still a scary thing.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.**

Awkward silence filled the room again. Both Tim and Gibbs sat there staring at everything that was not each other. Neither knew exactly where to begin. They both wanted to apologize but it was hard for them to do that. It was a rarity that Gibbs ever apologized for anything and over their years together, he drilled it into Tim's head to do the same. Even though Gibbs thought apologizing was a sign of weakness, sometimes it was okay to show that weakness. This was definitely one of those times. Now he just had to get the words out. Before he was able to though, Tim go them out.

"I'm sorry, Gibbs. I know you don't like that stuff but I have to. I acted like a little kid these last few months and it wasn't fair of me to pin all that stuff on you. It's not your job to become surrogate father." Tim was glad that he finally got that off his chest. The weight had been there for a while now and now that it was gone, he felt relieved.

"We both did things that we shouldn't have, McGee. And I'm sorry too." Gibbs told him. He had to admit, it was easier then he thought it would be. When it appeared as though Tim wasn't going to respond, he asked the question that had been bothering him for a while. "Why didn't you tell me about your mom?"

Tim sighed and shook his head. He knew that he had to be totally honest with his former boss. "Because at first, all I wanted was to be on the team so I didn't want you and Tony and Kate thinking I was some poor traumatized kid. Then as time went on it just didn't come up."

Gibbs had to admit that it was a good reason. He wouldn't have thought that personally because he's been there and Tony would have got it too, having too lost his mother at a young age but Kate definitely wouldn't have understood. "What happened?"

Tim didn't like to talk about this. It was hard enough telling Tony when he had found out about it in his personnel file. But maybe it would be a good thing to get it all out. "When I was six, my dad was stationed in Maryland. My mom and I were walking home after my first day of school when we ended up in the middle of a drug deal gone badly. My mom jumped in front of a bullet that was headed right towards me. She died instantly. The guys involved ran away, leaving me alone with my mom's dead body. I had no idea what to do so I ran. By the time a police officer found me, NIS had already found my mom and had called my dad. When they brought me to him, he yelled at me for running and told me I was weak and pathetic. It was the first time that he ever said stuff like that to me but it definitely wasn't the last." McGee said, telling the horrible story while trying to remember the day as best as he could.

Gibbs was shocked at the story. He had no idea that Tim had actually witnessed the murder. "Did they catch the guys?" he asked.

"Eventually, yeah. He ended up getting killed in prison about ten years ago. I guess that was when I ended up wanting to become a NCIS agent. I focused on nothing but school after that, I didn't speak to anybody for about three years after that. By then my dad had already married again and my step-mom had just had Sarah. Even then I stuttered. Had that till you scared it out of me." Tim said, smiling a little at the last part.

Gibbs smiled to. "So you're telling me that you had that stutter from the time you were nine till you were twenty four. Didn't you go to speech therapy?"

"My dad told me it was a waste of money and that I should be able to correct it myself. Carol, my step-mom, didn't even want me around Sarah because she didn't want her picking it up." He said with a tint of anger in her voice.

"I had no idea Tim. I just figured you had a good family life because you don't seem like the type of family who grew up like that." Gibbs admitted to him.

"I learnt to hide it early." Tim said quietly. "I really want things to go back to they were. I know me and Tony will still probably be on our own but I don't want to cut you guys out anymore. You're the first real family I've had since my mom died." He said changing the subject.

"I'd like that too, Tim." Gibbs said simply, giving the younger man a rare smile.

**~~~NCIS~~~**

"I'm so glad to be going home, Spain's a beautiful country but I miss D.C." Tony said to McGee who was sitting next to him on a plane home a few weeks later.

"I know what you mean. I just want to get coffee at that place by the office." Tim said, almost tasting the coffee in his mouth.

It had been a long few weeks since Tim finally woke up. Him and Gibbs had spent more time talking and had begun to repair their relationship. Now returning to the states, Tony and McGee would be staying with Gibbs until they could find places to live. They would be continuing to work together but this time as a two man team. Their new job was as a traveling MCRT of sorts, giving Gibbs and Ziva a break. They were glad to be getting back on their feet and get to be around their family at the same time. Life was good. For now.

**Fin.**

**Author's Note- Here it is the end. I'll be starting the sequel soon. It will be called 'The DiNardo Brothers'. I should be able to start it this weekend. Thanks for all the support with this stories. You guys are the best.**


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